Is it coincidental that both Reagan and Thatcher had dementia?

[BlueStreak]

38. Case in point, I had a coworker a few years back

Last edited Wed Apr 10, 2013, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

I'll refer to him a John to keep the text simpler. The President of the company hired me, mainly to replace John, or at least to give him some options to move John into an area where he might do less damage.

This move had come about because in recent years, John had become testy and really unpleasant to work with. That was the only John I ever knew, and he didn't disappoint, especially as he came to realize I would be taking over his most central duties. He got progressively more unpleasant and finally the President had to dismiss him.

It was 18 months later that we learned John been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and then he died 2 or 3 years after that.

I was curious about that, considering John had been with the company for 15 years before I came along. I started making inquiries of those who knew him throughout those years. And I was really surprised to learn that, while he was never a warm-and-fuzzy people-person, John had not been difficult to work with over the years. I do not believe Alzheimer's brought out his true personality. I believe his prickly personality developed out of frustration as he was losing his ability to work effectively.

But I guess the opposite case could also be true. It is possible that his "natural" personality was extremely prickly, and before the disease he was able to cover that up with some basic social skills.

I prefer to believe the former.